MBL Director Nipam Patel has given Imagine Science Films numerous video clips of animal development in a variety of species –butterfly, frog, squid — many of them captured in the MBL Embryology course. “We do things that are so visually stunning,” says Patel. “The more people that see it, the better.”

By Roberta Kwok

In one video, a pair of detached butterfly wings slowly change colors from pale yellow to dark spots with splashes of orange. In another, a mouse explores a raised circular platform, peering at a checkerboard pattern on the floor below. A third clip shows a worm undulating in a funnel-shaped enclosure, bending tiny “pillars” with its body.

These videos are part of a collection of laboratory footage gathered by filmmaker Alexis Gambis and colleagues. Gambis, executive director of the nonprofit Imagine Science Films (ISF) and founder of the online science film platform Labocine, both in Brooklyn, NY, has long been fascinated by the visual appeal of raw data clips. His organizations have showcased videos ranging from microscopic observations to computer simulations posted online and shown at science film festivals and exhibits. Read more …

Caption: An example of raw laboratory footage with aesthetic appeal, this image was taken from a time-lapse sequence of squid development documented by developmental biologist Nipam Patel and his students. It won runner-up for the Scientific Merit Award at ISF’s New York film festival last year. Image courtesy of Nipam Patel